says Barack Obama is “an apologist for radical Islamic terrorists” and that Libya, under dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was “better for US interests than the chaos now.”

Cruz, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday insisted, “Look, toppling Gaddafi, Gaddafi was a bad guy but you know what? Libya is an absolute chaos and war zone where jihadists are battling back and forth and here’s.”

Host Chuck Todd asked Cruz, “Would the Middle East be more stable today if you had the strong men there?” Cruz replied, “Of course, it would. Of course, it would. It– it wasn’t even close.”

Todd continued to press Cruz, “Gaddafi, Saddam, Assad, if they’re strong men, they keep stability?” Cruz responded, “It wasn’t even close that Libya under Gaddafi was better for US interests than the chaos now that is allowed jihadists to gain strength.”

Todd then asked Cruz, “What about Iraq under Saddam?” Cruz responded, “It– it wasn’t– it wasn’t even close.” Cruz then used the example of Egypt suggesting, “It wasn’t even close that Egypt under Mubarak was a much stronger ally than it was under Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. And now you have President El-Sisi. You know, one of the things that I’ve talked about many times, President El-Sisi, I’m very glad he’s leading Egypt. He’s been one of the most courageous Middle East leaders.”

When Tood asked Cruz if he was “okay” with having El-Sisi rule Egypt and asked if Cruz would pick “stability over democracy,” Cruz insisted, “The touchstone of US foreign policy should be our national security interests and– you know, I– I quoted in– in the book I had that came out a few months ago, I quote a speech that El-Sisi gave on January 1st at Cairo University, the same university that Obama went to on his abah– apology tour where he said astonishingly enough that Iran had a right to nuclear power.”

Cruz claimed,“President El-Sisi at Cairo University gave an incredibly courageous speech where he called out radical Islamic terrorists. And President el-Sisi is a Muslim. He called out ISIS. He called out the Islamists. Now that was a brave and important speech for a Muslim leader to do.”

“He was very much taking his own life in his hands,” Cruz continued. “You better believe the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS and the jihadists are trying harder to murder him. And what does it say when the president of Egypt shows more courage in fighting the Islamists than does President Obama who– who sadly at times acts like an apologist for radical Islamic terrorists.”

Todd later wanted to verify Cruz’s response regarding if “Iraq would be more stable today under a strong man like Saddam.” Cruz then suggested, “Saddam was a more complicated question based on– I– I was not in Congress when–when– when we went to war so I did not look at the intelligence at the time. Based on what we know now, should we have gone into Iraq? No, of course not. It was based on the belief that they had weapons of mass destruction that they would use against us. If that’s the case that if we believed that they were in a position to act against us and murder Americans, then we’re justified in protecting ourselves.”